Darcy Graham says he'd love to equal Stuart Hogg’s Scotland try-scoring record against Ireland next weekend.
The livewire winger crossed the line four times during Saturday night’s 84-0 hammering of Romania in Lille, taking his international career total to 24, which is just three behind recently retired Hogg.
With time on the 26-year-old’s side, it is surely now a question of ‘when’ rather than ‘if’ he will close out that gap – but Graham is a character who loves to leave his mark on big occasions, and they don’t come much bigger than a do-or-die showdown against the number one team in the world in front of a packed Stade de France with a place in the World Cup quarter-finals on the line.
“It’s getting close – it will come and will happen when it happens,” said Graham, who skipped ahead of Duhan van der Merwe (on 21 tries) with this weekend’s scoring spree. “Would I like to go equal with Hoggy with a hat-trick against Ireland? That would be lovely!
“It’s do-or-die, now, a World Cup final – almost for both teams. The atmosphere is going to be incredible so it’s a very exciting time ahead.”
Graham is now equal with Tony Stanger and Ian Smith in Scotland’s top try-scorer table, behind only Hogg
Remarkably, three out of those four players – Graham, Hogg and Stanger – all come from Hawick, a Borders town with a population of around 13,500.
“It’s incredible – a hell of a stat,” said Graham. “Hawick have produced so many international players and now we have three of the top four try scorers in Scottish history.
“It’s brilliant for the town and there will be a lot of happy people back home.
“We came looking for the five points against Romanian and we got that early doors, and after that it was just about enjoying it and playing some rugby. We certainly did that, so it was a very, very enjoyable night.”
